Trauma
by bubblegirl89236
Summary: A family is now wanted by a group of dangerous people for having something they want. The team look after them and in doing so put their own lives in jeopardy. Nothing is as simple as it seems and an unlikely hero surfaces. Image courtesy of 'posterize' from FreeDigitalPhotos .net
1. Chapter 1

**My very first NCIS fanfic.  
Disclaimer: I do not own anything from the NCIS world. But their are some new characters of my own creation.**

Here goes nothing...

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A little background info for my fanfic: Ducky and Palmer are at a medical convention, so wont see them until the end.

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"McGee, any family members?" Gibbs asked for the second time

"erm... yeah he has a wife and daughter who live at this address" McGee said as he gave Gibbs the piece of paper.

"Ziva and Tony go with McGee and escort Mrs Mackenzie back here" Gibbs said shoving the piece of paper back into McGee's hand.

"On it boss" Dinozzo said.

They all grabbed their gear and left in the elevator. They got there in 10 minutes. Tony pulled in outside Mrs Mackenzie's house. Ziva went to knock at the door but stopped as she noticed the door was ajar.

"Never a good sign" Dinozzo whispered.

Simultaneously McGee, Tony and Ziva drew out their weapons. Ziva took upstairs, Tony took the back way round and Tim took the front entrance.

Ziva cleared all of upstairs finding her daughter Melanie, only seven years old, hiding in the bathroom and came down to assist Tony. Tony had cleared the back with no problems.

Mrs Mackenzie was hiding behind the couch with a handgun, she shot the unknown assailant in the shoulder. The assailant fell to the ground. The shot had made all the team run towards this spot. McGee first arrived. His sudden appearance had made Mrs Mackenzie forget to kick the gun off the assailant.

"Give me the gun, NCIS" Tim had said flashing his badge at his waist.

"OK" she said handing over the weapon slowly.

The assailant had swiftly risen and used their good arm to raise their gun and shot at Mrs Mackenzie, the bullet ripped through her top left section and carried through and hit McGee's right shoulder. Tim didn't have enough time to react as Mrs Mackenzie started to fall forward and was heading right for him.

Lucky for him though Ziva had arrived and pushed Melanie to Tony and shot the assailant in the heart and kicked the gun away for good measure. Tony outside in the corridor flipped out his cell phone and dialled 911 and then called Gibbs to tell him what happened. Gibbs said to bring Mel in once the EMT's got there.

The EMT's arrived there in 5 minutes flat. Meanwhile Mrs Mackenzie was barely conscious, now next to McGee; Tim had hit his head on the way down, resulting in him being unconscious and Ziva was keeping pressure on Mrs Mackenzie's wound as hers was the more serious and Tim wasn't bleeding that much.

Mrs Mackenzie was mumbling about Mel that was until the EMT's walked in the door.

"Mrs Mackenzie can you tell me your name?"

"It's, Sarah" was all she got out before she passed out probably due to blood loss and shock.

The EMT's took Sarah off Tim and put her on the gurney and wheeled her out then one of the paramedics checked out McGee, he started to come around and tried to stand up but said he felt dizzy.

"Concussion and gunshot wound to the shoulder, bring in the other gurney" one of the EMT's ordered.

"Nonsense, I'm fine" He took one step then Ziva had to steady him.

"McGee if you don't go... I shall tell Abby, and you can deal with her"

"Right, to the hospital!" McGee said.

As soon as the EMT's helped him on to the gurney he passed out again.

"He's still going to have to deal with Abby" Ziva said quietly.

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**I thought that was a good note to end the chapter on.  
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What do you think of my first chapter, review til' your hand's sore.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Here's chapter 2. If you have the time i would appreciate some reviews :D**

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In the dining room Tony sat with Sarah's daughter, Mel.

Mel finally broke the silence, "Is my mum going to be alright?".

"Yeah, I'm sure she'll be fine. But now I have to take you in to where I work. Ok?"

"Why? Can't I go with my mum?"

"Not right now Melanie, the doctors will look after her, and my boss wants you to come in so he can ask you a few questions, then we'll go see your mum at the hospital, ok?"

"Ok" she said weighing up the options; since there weren't any, she gave up.

"Right lets go" Tony said holding out a hand.

She responded with a reassuring smile and took his hand. Tony took her into a conference room and Gibbs came in straight after.

"Hi, Mel isn't it?"

"Yeah" she replied as her eyes wandered to the drinks he put down in front of her.

"Coke or Orange juice?"

"Mum says I shouldn't have fizzy drinks"

Gibbs started to withdraw the coke. "But mum's not here, and one can't hurt". This remark caused Gibbs to give a small smile and he passed over the coke and put the orange juice back in his pocket.

"Mel do you know who that man was with your mum?"

"Mum just told me that he was trying to find something and said I should go hide in the bathroom and she would go and get me. So I climbed into the bath but I forgot to lock the door, and that's when the lady found me, erm... Zina I think"

"You mean Ziva?" Dinozzo queried.

"Yeah that's it, Ziva".

She slurped down the rest of the coke and looked up and gave a small little smile. "Can I go see my mum now, please?" she said in her sweet own way.

"Sure" Gibbs said.

"Let's go then" Tony said.

Melanie sat next to Ziva in the car. On the way to the hospital Mel started to think about what she was going to say to all the kids at school when she had told them all about her little adventure. When they got to the hospital little Melanie had fallen asleep.

"Should we wake her boss?" Tony said.

"No, I'll carry her in, she's had quite a busy day today".

Gibbs undid her seatbelt and picked her up. He really liked this kid she had a lot of spirit for a girl of her age and he could definitely tell that she was a marine's daughter. He laid her down on the seats in McGee's room.

"Rise and shine McGeek" Tony said.

"Can I leave yet?" McGee replied.

"The nurse said she wanted to see how bad the concussion was first, you did hit your head hard" Ziva said.

Then as if right on cue the nurse walked in.

"Finally" he whispered.

"Can I check out yet?" He continued.

"Yes, just give in this form all filled out at the main desk" the nurse said before leaving.

"How's Mrs Mackenzie?"

"Stable, we were going to check on her now" Tony said.

"What about the kid?"

"I'm fine" Mel said sitting up in the chair rubbing her eyes.

"Mel, you stay here and look after McGee for a minute while we go have a quick talk to your mum and then we'll send you in" Gibbs said

"OK" She said yawning.

They all left leaving Mel and Timothy alone.

"Was it you who helped my mum?"

"Yeah"

"Thank you"

"No problem... erm what's your name?"

"Oh my name is Melanie, but you can call me Mel. What's your name?"

"Nice to meet you Mel, my name is Timothy but you can call me Tim"

"You going to fill out the form then Tim?"

"Yeah" he said with a chuckle, didn't realise she was so alert for a seven year old.

"All done, Mel, do you want to come with me and give in this form, so we can go see your mum?"

"OK"

After they had done that they started walking towards the room her mum was in.

"Do you know where my bag is?"

"No, why?"

"My inhaler is in there" she said quite calmly.

"We'll go ask my boss" he said trying to stay calm for her.

"OK, my mum told me to keep it on me, just in case".

"Here we are, wait here a minute".

"OK" she said sitting on the bench.

McGee walked in and quietly asked if Gibbs knew where her bag was. He said no and gave McGee the keys to the car and told him to go look and sent Ziva outside to look after Mel.

"Mel, I'm just going to have a look in the car, while I'm gone Ziva will look after you".

"Bye Tim. Hi Ziva, thanks for getting the bad guy. Can I see my mum yet?".

"In a minute, but she's having a little trouble with her memory, OK?".

"How bad?".

"We're not sure right now, but the doctors say that it shouldn't be permanent".

"OK" Melanie said as she was sitting back down taking it all like a grown up.

Gibbs and Tony finally emerged from the room after a few minutes more. They took Ziva aside and began talking so that Mel could not hear.

"Can she go in?" Ziva said.

"She can, but I advise against it, she doesn't seem to remember her, and I don't think Mel is ready to see her mum like this" Gibbs said.

They turned around just to see a row of empty chairs. Tony and Ziva looked both ways down the corridors. Nothing.

Gibbs however knew better he went straight into Mrs Mackenzie's room. But instead of alerting Mel to his presence he just stood there to see what she would do. After Ziva and Tony had noticed that Gibbs had found her they went to check on McGee.

"Hi, my name is Mel. What's wrong with you?"

"I was in an accident. Where's your mother?"

"Oh, she's gone away for awhile, hopefully she'll come back to me soon" She said trying not to show her disappointment. "I better go now, hope you get better soon".

"Thanks" she replied, in her head she knew that child was familiar, she just didn't know why.

Mel turned away and walked out the door, which is when she noticed Gibbs waiting outside.

"Hope, she gets her memory back soon. She's like this whole other person. And I want my mum back".

"I know you do. The doctors said when your mum goes home that most of her memories should come back. Okay?".

"Can we go find Tim?".

"Yeah. We're going to take you back with us. Ok? We've asked the doctor to tell us if there is any improvement on your mum" He said as he held out his hand.

"OK" she said as she took his hand.

Then the two of them walked out the hospital. Tim, Ziva and Tony were nowhere to be seen. Gibbs flipped open his cell phone and hit speed dial 5, for Tony. No answer. He went to close his phone.

When Mel shouted, "Watch Out!", but too late.

Someone had hit him over the head with the butt of their gun.

Melanie, ran to the car but Tim, Tony and Ziva were all tied up in the car (Tim was the only one unconscious).

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**What will happen to the team? What will become of the little girl?**

**A little cliff hanger never did anyone any harm, so naturally i have plenty more to come.**


	3. Chapter 3

**I apoligise for my long absense, I forgot to mention I would be away for a while. I don't feel too bad as I am not sure if anyone is reading this fanfic, so i shall continue for my own sake :(**

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_Previously: Mel is looking into the car where Tim, Tony and Ziva are tied up_

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She didn't have the time at the moment to free any of them, but she did pull out her bag and hung it over her shoulder.

She hid behind the car. She waited a minute or two for the assailant to come and find her and started to force out a few fake tears (poking her eye a little did the trick). So by the time the man came up to her she looked completely defenceless, and as he was about to grab her, he was completely surprised when she kicked him in the groin and pushed him over on the floor (just what her dad had told her to do to protect herself; well the tears were her idea).

His gun fell onto the floor and she picked it up and ran back to Gibbs. He was awake but cable tied, hands and feet. She pulled out a Swiss army knife out of her bag and cut them both off in a matter of seconds.

Then she gave the gun to Gibbs and said "everyone's a little tied up in the car" and pulled out her inhaler to take a little puff.

By the time Gibbs got back to the car with Mel, the attacker had fled off the scene.

"He's gone for now" Gibbs said. "Nice work Mel".

"Rule 1# always be prepared" she said to herself.

"You untie Tony and Ziva in the back, while I sort out Tim"

"On it" as soon as she said this he had to force out a little smile, as she seemed to be acting extremely mature and was definitely a marine's daughter.

First Gibbs checked over the car, once he deemed it safe and Gibbs got into the driver's side and started to cut Tim free with his own knife, being extra careful with Tim's shoulder, which woke him up quite abruptly.

Unfortunatly for all of them, Gibbs was checking the wrong part of the car.

Meanwhile Melanie had cut through Tony and Ziva's cable ties. They were both still conscious. They had seen everything Melanie had done and were amazed.

"err... thanks" Tony said amazed that a seven year old defended herself like that, was carrying around a Swiss army knife, and wondered what else she had in her bag.

"Yes, thank you Melanie" Ziva said exiting the vehicle.

As soon as they were all out Gibbs and Mel heard a *click*

"Bomb" Gibbs yelled.

They all started running Ziva and Tony helping Timothy.

It went off a matter of moments of them running away.

The blast was directed up but the force of the explosion forced them all down and Mel hit her head hard on the pavement as she went.

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**Any thoughts??? Any Comments??? ANYONE??**


	4. Chapter 4

**  
Hi, everyone. Just to let you know that i haven't given up on my story and i am currently finishing off all my stories before i start a new one so this will be finished before any new ones start popping up.**

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_Previously: Gibbs and Mel (mostly Mel) found the rest of the team tied up in the car and just as they were freed an ominous *click* was heard followed by everyone running. Luckily they all managed to get far enough away to avoid being incinerated. Unfortunately when the bomb went off the blast-wave forced everyone down hard and Mel actually hit her head on the pavement._

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The dust and debris began to settle once more.

The first thing any of them began to hear was car alarms but they seemed muffled and far away.

Tim was still conscious and was trying to pick himself up off the floor without aggravating his arm.

Gibbs was the first one up and was asking if everyone was alright, but he couldn't hear himself, let alone anyone hear him at this very minute.

Gibbs saw Tim struggling so helped him up while Tony helped Ziva up.

Simultaneously they all seemed to notice that Melanie was no where in sight and their hearing started clearing up.

All their eyes where darting about looking for any signs of her.

Suddenly McGee saw her red shoes sticking out from round the corner, "Boss!", McGee yelled.

They all ran to her position, which actually wasn't that far away from them, but she had got forced apart from them in the shock-wave.

Her head was facing to the right, unconscious, or worse...

Tony got there first so checked her pulse. It was fast and strong. He let out a sigh, as everyone else let out a breath they didn't know they were holding in relief.

Tony turned her over so she was face up.

That small movement on his part, revealed a long gash across the upper-left side of her head and blood all over her face and hair. On her legs there were many minute cuts in her tights made from some of the glass that exploded, but they all had some of that to a degree.

The hospital heard the explosion and they sent all the paramedics they could spare.

They put Mel on the gurney, and they all followed the paramedics who where trying to treat them on route.

They all got split up and taken into separate cubicles, they tried to refuse but they knew that the glass embedded in their skin had to be taken out and the sooner the better.

One by one as they were done they all went into Mel's cubicle until they were all in there.

They all noticed the neat row of stitches running across her now clean forehead. The Nurse had also taken a few minutes to take out the glass, disinfect the cuts and wiped the blood out of her hair and off the rest of her face.

The Nurse came in briefly to tell them that she was just unconscious but they also took an MRI to be on the safe side and she is allowed to go.

A few moments after the team had assembled in her room silently, unsure of what to say, she began to stir.

"Melanie, can you hear me?" Gibbs said softly.

She replied with a quite raspy "yes sir". She slowly opened her eyes and sat up slowly.

As she took in more and more of her surroundings she began to feel the slight stinging sensation on her forehead. She carefully reached her hand up and touched her stitches. "What happened?" She said clearly.

"You hit your head on the way down and the doctor had to give you stitches" Tony said.

"Can we go now I'm awake?"

"The doctor said you can leave straight away, if you want to" Gibbs said.

"I want to get out of here, it's smells weird" after she said this they all had to crack a smile none of them liked hospitals.

***cut*car*scene***

They all got out of the car and walked back into HQ. As soon as McGee sat down in his desk Abby walked in.

"McGee, are you alright" Abby said hugging him in her usual death grip

"Yeah, just shot in the shoulder" he wheezed out.

"Oh sorry Tim" She said letting go.

"No problem Abby" he whispered.

"Abby" Gibbs said.

"Sorry, I'll go back to the lab".

"You can take Melanie with you" Gibbs said "If that's OK with you Mel"

"OK" Melanie said.

If her dad taught her one thing (well he taught her a hell of a lot actually), it was that arguing was pointless with a marine. She had figured out ages ago that Gibbs was a marine so decided to take what he said like she would have from her dad. Abby and Melanie got into the elevator and headed down to her lab.

"Boss, you should have seen her, for a seven year old she can sure put up a good fight" said Tony.

"Well next time they'll expect that from her, so she won't have the element of surprise to help her" Gibbs said.

"Next time?" Ziva said.

"They obviously are after Mel or she has something she has got and they must really want it since they went after her with all of us there" Gibbs replied.

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**Tried my best not to leave it on too much of a cliff hanger. This was written today as i randomly thought of the explosion and i forgot to write it into my existing story line, but that's done now.**

**My medical expertise is not up to scratch but should be fine to the untrained eye as this is what they do on TV (pm me if you have found something horrifically wrong with it).**

**Review alot please as i wrote this in 1hr 30min and hope it isn't too rushed.**

**Hannahxx**


	5. Chapter 5

**I'm baack, exams are a major pain in my ass - but i don't seem to have much work at the moment, so I am taking the chance to post for any of you guys that are still reading**

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*In*Abby's*lab*

"Abby, are you good at computer things and keeping secrets?" Mel said having made a small bond with her and noticing how fast she was going on her computer.

"You bet, I'm the best" she said confident in herself as always.

"Then could you have a look at this, I think this is what the bad guys are after" Melanie said pulling a toy phone (quite a realistic one) and her Swiss army knife out of her bag.

"Your phone?"

"No, what I hid in the phone...one...minute" She flicked out the screwdriver in the Swiss army knife. Then she undid all the screws. She took out a circuit board and a memory card. Then she put away the knife and ditched the phone in the nearby trashcan. "This is what I was keeping for my dad".

"Did he tell you to hide it?" Abby asked as she took the objects and started looking into it.

"Yeah, he told me to keep it safe and a secret, but I think that's why my daddy's gone, they hurt my mom, and they're after me".

"We'll your secrets safe with me, but I think it would be good to tell my team, or at least Gibbs"

"Why?"

"Because they can keep you and this stuff safe and away from the bad guys"

"Only, if you think so Abby...I trust you...and Gibbs' team"

"Okay. Do you want to call Gibbs?"

"Yeah sure"

"Right just press that button there...yeah that one"

_Gibbs_

"Hello, this is Mel and Abby. I...err...we have some new information for you about the bad guys after my family. Could you come down to Abby's lab please?"

_On our way_

___Gibbs swiftly rounded up the team and headed down to Abby's lab._

"What have you got for us" Gibbs said.

"First I think I should tell you that I think that the bad guys are coming after my family because they are looking for this" Melanie said holding a picture of the circuit board and the memory card since Abby was using the real ones and they were technically evidence. "My dad told me to hide it and keep it a secret. I would have told you lot sooner but I promised my dad. But I don't want any more people to get hurt...Oh and Abby found out what it does". The pause just allowed everyone to take in all the information and at this point there were no questions so Abby swiftly continued.

"So, I have discovered that this circuit board is a vital part of a new high tech weapons program. And this memory card contains all of the details; it reveals who was trying to buy and sell this on the black market and it appears that Mel's dad was dragged into this but was ordered to keep working undercover and all of his findings are on this memory card. I think he knew that someone was onto him and found out that he had evidence that indicated them so he gave all this to Mel to keep safe and was killed as he refused to give up its whereabouts and couldn't get it into the right hands before he was killed".

"We'll done you two. Abby you got any suspects for us?"

"We sure do and there is tons of evidence to bury them too".

By now everyone was facing Abby and Mel was behind the team.

"I don't feel so good" she said. Then only moments later Mel fell unconscious on the floor. Causing everyone to turn around as a result of the sound she made hitting the floor.

"Mel, can you hear me?" Gibbs said.

"Tony call 911"

"On it boss"

She's started fitting. "McGee, hold her head still" he said keeping her legs still.

After 10 minutes she had stopped fitting and Tony had led the EMTs right to her. They put her on the gurney, strapped her in and wheeled her out.

Tim went with her since he wouldn't be any good in the field in his current condition and everyone else had work to do.

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**Hope you like it. Hopefully it won't be too long before i post the next chapter and i am hoping to post it by next friday, but we'll see.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Sorry for the long wait - hope you're all still listening as this is so not over...**

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_Previously:_

_Melanie had spontaneously started fitting and had been taken back to the hospital by the EMTs. Tim went with her as he couldn't do much to help the case at the moment and if it really came down to it he could protect her; that is if she didn't get there first._

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** Chapter 6**

"Special agent McGee?" A doctor called out to the waiting room.

Special agent McGee had rode along in the ambulance as he couldn't drive with his busted shoulder.

Tim stood up and walked towards the doctor who showed no signs of emotion to give away the situation.

However everyone in the hospital hadn't a clue that there was more than one armed man in the waiting room, both of which had an interest in young Melanie.

"What happened?" Timothy said unsure of how else to phrase it.

"the fit was most likely triggered from the head injury she recently sustained. Luckily we caught the condition early otherwise it could have developed into a lifelong condition. At the moment I have prescribed her some anti-epileptic drugs which should stop the seizures and can be picked up at the pharmacy downstairs on the way out. She can be released for now but must comeback in a week's time for another scan"

"Is she awake?" Tim asked relieved at the news that nothing more sinister was going on.

"Yes and is asking for you specifically. Please step this way" The doctor said slightly hurrying Tim,most probably because Melanie had been asking for him every time she saw a member of staff.

The doctor let Tim go in alone and left him with another set of discharge forms on a clipboard with a pen.

This week both he and Mel had been in and out of the hospital far too many times. McGee was used to it as it came with the job, but Melanie was only a child and shouldn't have to experience such things and it made him think about how this was going to mentally affect her. All those thoughts were washed away as her face lit up seeing him.

"Tim!" she exclaimed upon seeing her a familiar friend.

"How are you feeling?"

"A little exhausted. But what happened? None of the doctors are telling me" she said rather fast, just happy to see someone familiar.

"you had a seizure the doctors say most likely from hitting your head earlier, they think it may go away with time but you'll have to take medicine for a while and come back for checkups. Are you ready to blow this joint?" Tim said whilst signing the discharge form using his right hand trying his best not to jostle his right shoulder.

It didn't help that his right shoulder hurt with every movement of his right arm and that he had to wear a sling.

"Yeah. But I think your spending too much time with Tony" she said with a little chuckle.

"I think your right" Tim said listening to what he had just said, mentally head slapping himself.

He helped her off the bed and they made their way to the exit. He picked up the prescription and dropped off the clipboard at the main desk and left the main building.

The other armed man was no longer in the waiting room and had left upon hearing that the girl was ok.

Tony swiftly came and picked them up.

Tim phoned Gibbs to inform him on the situation and that they were on their way back (using his left hand).

Mel was in the front next to Tony as she had called shotgun.

"McGee!" Tony said not taking his eyes off the road.

"What is it?"

"We're being tailed" Tony said trying to avoid the traffic.

_"McGee! what is it?" Gibbs said still on the other end of the phone._

"We're being followed"

_"Where are you?"_

"Damn it" McGee said as the phone was shook out of his hand after Tony sped round a bend.

The car that was further behind them was now a lot closer and was speeding up; this car was definitely following them and the looked like they were in no mood to give up and go home.

****Gibbs****

Gibbs instructed Abby to trace McGee's cell and inform him and Ziva of their whereabouts. He organised the rest of the nearby traffic to be diverted, to avoid any casualties and give Tony a fighting chance.

"Gibbs, when Mel was down here earlier we ended up putting a DNA sample through and well nothing came up" Abby said to Gibbs on the phone.

_"So?"_

"You don't understand nothing, no relatives or anything. John Mackenzie is in the database but he didn't turn up"

"So he isn't her father?" Gibbs said driving as fast and as safe as he dared.

"No... But whoever her father is... His DNA is all over the explosive used to blow up the car!" Abby said just as the results came in.

****Tim, Tony and Mel****

The car that was following them was now side by side with them trying to force them off the road. Tony was doing his best to keep his distance from the other car but they obviously had other ideas.

Melanie's father was not in the car following them, they were however under orders from him to get his daughter back at any cost. At the moment though the two men in the car next to them were not concerned about who lived and who died in that car.

McGee was trying to grab the phone off the floor but it was now halfway under Tony's chair and Tim had to resort to using his foot.

Melanie was hanging on tight to the chair as the car that was next to them kept colliding into her side of the car, in an attempt to end the chase.

Tony was putting up a valiant effort of keeping everyone inside his vehicle safe...for now.

****Mackenzie Residence****

Sarah Mackenzie had been allowed to leave earlier that day escorted by an agent of course.

The agent had stayed as instructed and was keeping a close eye on her.

"Would you like a drink?" Sarah offered.

"Please, coffee, black no sugar" The agent said getting a little more comfy, but still able to see her in the kitchen.

She came out with the coffee and a glass of orange juice for herself. She always had a glass of orange juice at this time, even though she couldn't remember, it just seemed like instinct.

The agent finished the coffee and put it down on the coffee table.

She excused herself to go to the toilet and the agent deemed it safe for her to go alone.

After about three minutes the back door was kicked down.

The agent jumped up, turned around and reached for their weapon.

The assailant was too fast, by the time the agent was ready to fire the man shot the agent several times in the chest, leaving him to fall to the floor in a bloody mess.

Sarah had heard the gunshots but instead of hiding her mind started flashing, the simple sound of the gunshots brought everything back. The timing was unfortunate for her it had left her sitting on the floor immobilised so by the time she came back to reality, the assailant, who was at least an inch or two taller that the man who had shot her previously, was looking right at her.

She stood up and backed her way into the corner. The man reached for her, cloth in hand, she tried to fight but the man had clamped the cloth over her nose and mouth, not only cutting off her air supply but rapidly lulling her in to unconsciousness.

He put the cloth back in his pocket whilst supporting her dead weight. He dragged her down the stairs and out the back door and put her in the back of his van.

He took off the mask he had been wearing so he was left in his street clothes blending in with everyone else.

"Time to put our family back together" he said aloud to himself.

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**Next chapter will be up as soon as it is ready, i know where the plots going so i forsee no writers block on this one all i need to do is find the time.**

**A/N - The agent assigned to Sarah was no one important to the show, so clearly they had to die.**

**I am pretty sure that my medical jargon is incorrect to the trained eye, so close that and keep reading :D**


	7. Chapter 7

**I apologize for the long wait, but now the story is completely written, so here is the beginning of the end.**

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****Tim, Tony and Mel****

Just as they were crossing the bridge the car that was tailing them decided to ram them from behind. Tony managed to keep the car under control, but wasn't able to when they rammed them again. Unfortunately the bridge was old and made of wood, so their car broke through the side of the bridge and fell straight into the river, which was very deep; deep enough to cover their car three times over.

The two men who had caused the ''accident'' pulled over on the other side of the bridge and stepped out.

"Great. She better not be damaged, or the Boss will have our heads" Said the taller of the two.

"She'll be fine, the dip will do her some good...Er so how do we get them out now?" The driver said.

"We'll let them do it, then we can dispose of them"

"Ahhh" the shorter man dumbly replied.

The car was already at the bottom of the river bed. The car though, was only filled about half way with water. Tony for the moment was unconscious, Tim was struggling with his seatbelt, leaving Mel, who had miraculously escaped unscathed.

She had undone her own seatbelt, then Tony's. She passed back her swiss army knife from her purse to McGee so he could cut himself free; the quickest solution at the time.

"Tony!" McGee said, causing Tony to snap awake instantly.

"We have to get out" McGee pointed out to Tony.

"Mel, can you swim?" Tony asked.

Under normal circumstances she would have looked at him like an idiot, but since it was not she said, "yes".

"I'll help McGee, but you'll have to follow on your own. Can you do that for me?" Tony asked rhetorically.

She nodded vigorously. Both Tony and Mel climbed in the back. Dinozzo pulled the handle on the door and used his feet to help push it open, whilst allowing water to rush in.

Tony pulled Timothy along by his good arm and they all simultaneously held their breath; the car now was completely full of water.

Melanie opened her eyes and pulled herself out of the car. She paused momentarily until she saw Tony and Tim and began to swim as fast as she possibly could.

Almost as soon as they breached the surface, one of the men began shooting. This made them all instinctively go back under the water.

"What do you think you're doing?" The taller man said pushed the other who had just emptied a clip.

"What?"

"If you hit the girl. What do you think will happen to us?"

"Oh yeah...Then how are we going to do this?"

The man sighed at how stupid his partner was.

"We let them get out, at gunpoint. Take the girl, then, once she's out of the way, we can shoot them".

"That sounds like a plan!" the man said reloading his weapon.

_"Right, let's try this again shall we" The taller man thought._

This time when the trio breached the surface there was no shooting, but once they had time to look around the two men waved their weapons as to indicate where they wanted them to go.

As they swam the men moved along to the dock weapons still cocked and ready.

They offered no help when they finally made it to land, if they didn't have to get their hands dirty, why even bother.

Tony didn't stop until McGee was all the way on dry land, then he collapsed so he could take a breath. McGee started groaning at the aches he had in his over worked muscles.

Mel just lay there catching her breath eyes closed.

Before she knew what was happening Melanie was hauled off the ground and to her feet whilst the taller guy held the muzzle of the gun to her neck.

She couldn't squirm her way out of his grip, no matter how hard she tried.

He put her in the trunk of their car, but before closing it he had a look through her purse.

"I don't think so" he said waving her swiss army knife.

He threw the inhaler and her now empty purse in the trunk with her, then shut it; leaving her alone in the dark.

He sat down in the driver's seat and left his 'partner' to dispose of the other two, he figured he could at least do that on his own.

Dinozzo helped McGee up, after seeing Mel dragged away, unable to offer any kind of resistance, the least they could do was stand up and buy some time.

"I guess we can see who the boss is?" Tony said not very quietly to McGee.

"I wonder if he gets paid more" Tim said, following Tony's lead.

"Actually, I think you'll find that we are equal partners" The guy proudly said taking the bait.

"How come you get dumped with the less important jobs then"

"Enough! I may not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but I'm not stupid".

The screen fades to black and two gunshots can be heard in quick sucession, followed by the sound of a car driving off.

* * *

**A/N - couldn't resist throwing a few cliffhangers in, next chapter up tomorrow :)**


	8. Chapter 8

**The next chapter as promised.**

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* * *

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Before the man could pull the trigger two shots rang out causing both the younger agents to flinch.

They looked at the man pointing the weapon at them and could see blood beginning to run from his mouth, then he collapsed to the floor, clearly dead before he hit the ground.

They turned to see both Ziva and Gibbs both lower their weapons and run over.

Before they reached them the taller man was starting the engine of the car noticing all the commotion.

Tony in response had picked up his sidearm up off the floor and was running towards the vehicle that currently contained Melanie Mackenzie. Clearly not seeing her any of the passenger seats he began to fire at the vehicle, running to follow.

Tony saw the car swerve violently as one of his shots hit the driver.

McGee picked up his sidearm using his good arm but holsters it and doesn't take chase, as he would have no chance.

Once the car was too far gone Tony jogged back to the others, knowing that he did all he could do.

When Tony saw the others, his gaze went to Gibbs, who was holding an evidence bag that now contained Mel's knife.

* * *

**Sorry this is uber short, but I have planned out exactly how I want this to go.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9, and were almost at the end. That should be the last of the delay's now.**

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***Melanie McKenzie***

The driver of the car had been lucky, Tony's shot had just grazed his right shoulder and wasn't bleeding very heavily at all.

Melanie was trying to stay calm, she wasn't claustrophobic at all, but being stuffed into the trunk of a car wasn't very pleasant, and didn't help her athsma.

She tried kicking trying to get some kind of response from the driver, because she was clearly needed alive.

When the car had started swerving she had stopped trying to draw attention to herself and just tried to protect herself.

As soon as he regained control of the car she took a puff of her inhaler, to help her calm her breathing.

After what seemed like hours of driving the car suddenly came to a halt and the trunk was popped, allowing light to flood in.

She had to blink to get her eyes to adjust, it was dark outside but wasn't pitch black like the trunk had been.

"Out you get Melanie" A new male voice said.

Mel looked up and saw a different man, she held on tight to her inhaler as he helped her get out.

He gave the driver a brown envelope, and he drove off; leaving her all alone with this strange man.

He took her inside the house and into the kitchen, which was beautifully furnished, but didn't make her forget that she had been kidnapped.

"Help yourself" he said referring to the plate of cookies, that were clearly shop bought, and a can of coke.

She was both hungry and thirsty so gingerly began to eat and drink.

After eating a whole cookie and finishing off the coke, she paused, the man had been staring at her the whole time.

"Why have I been brought here?" She asked.

"I think your mother better answer that question"

"She's here?" she said obviously too concerned to eat any more.

"In the room next door" he said calmly.

She hopped off her chair and went into said room.

"Mom!" she gasped.

Sarah had a gag in her mouth and was duct taped to a chair.

She tried to reply but the gag muffled everything she tried to say.

Before Melanie had the chance to untie or at the very least ungag her mother, the man came through the other door behind her mother.

He took the gag out of her mouth but left Sarah tied to the chair.

"Melanie, I'm so sorry" Sarah said.

"You know who I am?" She said hoping.

"I remember sweetie. I'm so sorry I forgot you"

"It's ok mom. But why are we here?"

"Tell her Sarah, you owe her the truth, after all these years"

"Mom?" She said, not wanting to know the answer.

"This man is your biological father" she said, knowing that he was in fact right about this.

"And now we can be a happy family" he said clearly believing every little word he said.

* * *

**Dun dun dun**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10 - I hope the frequency at which I am updating is making up for the small chapters.**

* * *

It was very clear that this man who was apparently Melanie's biological father was a few fries short of a happy meal.

"So what now?" Mel asked.

"If your mom promises to behave, I'll untie her and we can finally start our life together"

"And if I don't?" Sarah said, hoping he would just let them go.

"Then, me and my daughter will start a new life" he said, not saying that he would have to kill her whilst his child was in the room.

Melanie hated it when people treated her like her age, the truth was, she was much smarter than she looked. She knew exactly what this man would do to get his way...kill anyone who stood in his way. So she decided to play along, as convincingly as possible.

"Can I have another cookie please?" she asked playing along.

"Course you can darling" he said not batting an eyelid.

The man turned his focus to Sarah.

"Steven if I say that I'll do as I'm told, you'll trust me?" she asked.

"Of course not, you'll have to earn that. But trust me when I say that if you don't behave, you don't want to find out what I will do"

"Will you untie me now?"

"No, I'm not stupid, here you'll run. But once we get to our new home, there will be nowhere you can run, that I can't find you" He emphasised, showing his true colours; one of the many reasons she ran in the first place.

A *SMASH* sound came from the kitchen, not the sound of a window breaking but more like a cup.

Steven bolted into the kitchen, and the sight before him startled him. Melanie was on the floor convulsing.

It was clear to him that all the noise had come from the glass that Melanie had been holding before she collapsed; a pool of orange juice underneath her, and a red colour was beginning to emerge...

* * *

**I know that the way I revealed Mel's fathers name; Steven, was a little random, but I got sick of saying ''the man''. Anywho TBC...**

**On another note I was looking at the hits/visitors to each chapter of this fanfic and it makes no sense, it is going up and down, can anyone explain this, or is it simply people skip chapters?**


	11. Chapter 11

**This chapter is a fill in the blank of sorts, it gives a useful insight/perspective into what will happen next.**

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***The other side of the story***

"Gibbs", he said answering his phone.

"Is everybody ok?" Abby said.

"McGee and Dinozzo are fine..." He started.

"But they took Mel" She stated very matter of fact.

"Yeah. Is there something you wanted Abbs" he said starting to get agitated.

"Whilst she was hanging out in the lab we put a tracer in her inhaler"

"And..."

"I am tracking her now in real time"

* * *

They silently moved in on the house. Ziva picked the lock on the front door. Tony went round the back, and McGee stayed in the car

Melanie heard the lock pop whilst she was in the kitchen.

She had lied to her 'father', she needed time to think, formulate some kind of plan.

Ziva cautiously opened up the door, ready to fire.

Gibbs saw that she was unharmed for the moment and wanted it to stay that way.

Mel did not know whether or not either of them were versed in sign language, so silently mouthed some words to them.

Gibbs mouthed, "5, 4, ... 3" and that was as far as he got before Melanie collapsed, throwing her arms to the side as she went, knocking her glass of juice on to the floor.

She began convulsing, pieces of glass embedding themselves into her back.

Steven rushed in to see what was going on, his gun still cocked in his hand.

When he saw his little girl, he was lost for words. He ran his empty hand through his hair, then knelt down near her.

As soon as he put down his weapon, Ziva and Gibbs rushed in.

"NCIS, Freeze!" Gibbs said.

Mel stopped finally stopped seizing and her body went lax.

In his horrified state it was relatively easy for Ziva to cuff Steven and pull him to his feet.

Gibbs turned his attention to Mel.

* * *

As soon as Steven left the room Tony entered the house through the back door.

He made quick work of the rope that bound Sarah to the chair.

Sarah knew that this was not yet over so remained silent.

Though in her heart she feared that something had happened to Melanie...

* * *

**It's practically over, they got the bad guy, now for the loose ends.**


	12. Chapter 12

**The final chapter - not counting the epilogue coming your way**

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Once Steven had been cuffed, Melanie stopped convulsing.

She opened up one eye to check that it was over.

Steven suddenly realised what just happened.

"But why? I'm your father"

"My father's name is Matthew McKenzie, and you'll never be able to replace him" she spat.

"Ziva take him outside" Gibbs ordered before things escalated between the two of them.

Mel tried to get up, but the glass cut into her hands, making her wince in pain.

"I said on five" He said walking over.

"I never was good at Math" she retorted.

Gibbs helped her out by pulling her up by holding on to her forearms.

"Melanie" Sarah called pushing past Tony.

"Mom" she whined, slightly embarrassed.

"EMT's on the way boss" Dinozzo said, flipping closed his cell.

Gibbs gave her a look that said a thousand words.

"At least it was believable" she offered, knowing that she couldn't get away without seeing one so didn't bother to try and get out of it.

Gibbs smiled, this girl didn't let anything dampen her spirits or get in her way.

It was obvious that she wasn't at risk of bleeding out.

* * *

The EMT took one look at her back and put her in the ambulance and took her back to the hospital, her mother riding in the ambulance with her.

At the hospital they used their equipment to check that all the glass had been removed. Quite a lot of stitches had been used as the glass had been embedded quite deeply, hence all the blood.

They said the only reason she hadn't been bleeding out was because the glass hadn't been removed or dislodged.

So her back was basically covered in one giant pad.

Luckily Mel hadn't put all her weight on her hands attempting to get up, so no real treatment was required except for the cuts to be cleaned and all she had to do now was keep her hands clean.

* * *

Mel and Sarah had to return to pick up some of her husbands belongings.

They entered the bull ring for the last time.

Everyone was there; Tim, Tony, Ziva, Abby and Gibbs.

Gibbs handed Sarah the box, and she held a brave smile.

"I think he would have wanted you to have these" Gibbs said to Mel handing over her 'real' fathers dog tags.

She gave him a small smile in thanks, for well, everything.

Sarah waited by the elevator, as Mel gave everyone a hug, being extra careful with Tim.

They stepped into the elevator and the doors closed

* * *

**The End - a little cheesy I know, but it's hard to get a good ending with the desired results. Epilogue coming your way soon.**


	13. Chapter 13

****Epilogue****

A woman in her early twenties dressed in camouflage was sitting in a car trying to get through the barrier.

"I'm telling you I've been here before"

"Even so, mam, no ID card, means no entry. Would you like me to pass a message?"

"Yes please, tell Mr Gibbs that Melanie Mackenzie is here to say hello"

A few minutes later the barrier lifted.

"He say's to come right up" The man said slightly embarrassed from how Gibbs had just had a go at him for making her wait.

She parked relatively close to the main building.

She showed her licence and was allowed to retain her firearm inside the building. It had been so long since she had been here last.

She remembered exactly how to get to her destination. She got in the lift and pressed a button. She walked out into the bull pen finding all their desks empty. She walked over to Gibbs' desk attracted to the white piece of card on his desk.

She smiled as she read it, "Melanie, everyone's waiting in Abby's lab" she liked the way how he was always prepared, kind of reminded her of her father.

She jumped back in the lift and headed down to Abby's lab.

As soon as she stepped out she was greeted by a group of familiar and smiling faces.

"Hey guys, long time no see" she said noticing that they all looked the same after about fifteen years.

"You've grown so much" Abby said launching into a hug.

"You guys look the same, it makes me feel like it was just yesterday I said goodbye. But where's Ziva?" Mel said as soon as Abby had let go.

"On maternity leave" Gibbs said.

"It was really hard to convince her to take some time off but I did it eventually" Tony said.

This time it was Mel who launched her own hug, but this time on Tony.

"Congratulations" she said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"But how did you..."

"I may have been young, but I wasn't stupid".

She released her grip on Tony to latch on to McGee instead.

"Timmy"

"I heard about your mom..." he said lowering the mood somewhat.

"It's OK she was never really the same without my dad, after she was diagnosed with Cancer she refused treatment and was just waiting. I'm happy for her, living with a broken heart wasn't really living at all and I can be happy knowing that she is happy"

She turned her attention to Gibbs, "I was wondering if you had anything to do with the request?"

He smiled "maybe a little".

She gave him his hug, after today she wouldn't be so clingy.

"So when do I start?"

"Right now. You can have my old desk"

"That would be wonderful...Director" she said emphasizing.

* * *

Even at the age of 40 she was still doing the job she loved. She had by this point handpicked a new team.

"Probie" Melanie Mackenzie said, 40 years of age and still looking good.

"Yes boss" Chloe McGee replied, the offspring of our very own Tim and Abby.

"cover me"

She replied with a firm nod.

"Dinozzo round the back"

"On it boss" Danny Dinozzo answered, the child of Tony and Ziva David.

At some point rule #12 Just had to go.

Many years later, their children have learnt from the best...

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**The absolute end - review me your opinions :)**


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